Then last November, Denizard went for his annual medical checkup. The night before the appointment, he noticed pain in his leg and tenderness in his abdomen which he mentioned to his doctor.

Janet Wu/wcvb

One ultrasound and a CT scan later, Denizard, 46, was told he had Stage 4 cancer cells in his liver, spine and pancreas.

"The diagnosis came so fast and I just decided to cancel (the wedding) because basically, when you're given six months to a year to live, and that was eight months down the road, I wasn't waiting," said Brennan, 35, a nurse at Boston's Children's Hospital.

"We wanted to make sure that we got married," said Denizard, who works for a medical supply company. "It was important to both of us. It might sound corny, but we've been looking for each other our whole lives. Now that I found her, I'm not going to let her go."

Facing unknown but certain medical bills, they decided on a quick City Hall wedding until Brennan contacted her photographer, Shannon Grant, to cancel the August event.

Grant mobilized a community of people in the wedding business: DJ, makeup artists, bakeries and florists. The entire wedding will be donated, even the venue in Topsfield, on Jan. 24.

The couple said they are overwhelmed by a symphony of emotion and disbelief as they face an uncertain future, but one showered with generosity.

Janet Wu/wcvb

"(It's) something that we could have never imagined," said Brennan.

"It's jaw-dropping the amount of support from the people I know and love," said Denizard. "And total strangers too."

They will meet many of their new benefactors for the first time at the wedding where their parents also will come face-to-face for the first time.

They already are counting on the photographs and memories of that day to get them through the chemotherapy treatments Denizard has begun and hard times ahead.

"We'll be thinking of what we have, not what we don't have," said Denizard.